In her novel, “Mary: A Fiction” (1788), a women dies from fever after she accepts the hopelessness of her life. The novel concludes with its heroine “hastening to that world where there is neither marrying, nor giving into marriage” (Miller par 4). This book shows how most women dealt with their unhappy lives. With that in mind, Mary was driven to change the social traditions of marriage. Mary was a MOM (Mother Outside of Marriage) who chose to have Fanny, her first daughter,
Reality By Deanna Presley Chris Pylant Reality The short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a nice analogy to reality. There is a vicious cycle in life full of ups and downs. We have goals and dreams and aspirations but the truth of life can hold you back till you overcome it. Then there are times when you finally have what you have worked for in your sights but all of a sudden something sneaks up on you and crumbles the aspiration to a clean slate. Louise had this desperation to be free, the joy of finally getting to do as she desires, and a slap in the face of disappointment and anguish.
Emily Shea Professor Nicholas Young LITR 221 November 4, 2012 Liberation from Oppression and Society Norms: The Story of the Yellow Wallpaper The short novella The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story demonstrating a woman drove made by the confines of feminist society in the story’s setting in the turn of the 19th century. The sick character, a woman defiant in her struggle against her patriarchal power figure, demonstrated classic societal norms of the times. Even though she became increasingly more mentally ill in her fight against a male-dominated society, she eventually defeated and overcame the belittling and submissive expectation of women at the time, finding her own equal way in the world. The divide in the nuclear family prior to the 20th century was strongly apparent. Women’s roles were mainly regarded for domestic purposes only.
It shows the inner battle that women were forced to battle into repression. “The Story of an Hour” isn’t a tale of tragedy; it is a story of liberation, one that eroded the consciousness of 19th century society. “The Story of an Hour” describes the journey of Mrs. Mallard against the preconceived roles of women as she slowly becomes aware of her own desires for her life and her future without Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard was forced by the society in which she lived to suppress her basic instincts to conform to the stereotypical woman’s role. However, she is able to begin her transformation to a self-aware woman when she learns of her husband’s death.
She is a middle aged woman with heart trouble, and bad news was about to come her way of the “possible death of her husband” (Chopin, 1894, para.1). Mrs. Mallard was a lady who was possibly controlled in her life by her husband. “When hearing the news of the death, she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in Josephine’s arms” (Chopin, 1894, para.3). I can feel the attachment that she had with her husband, but wept once also shows maybe some antipathy. Mrs. Mallard made her way to her room and stared out her window to watch her new life take fold.
Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour” is a statement on the oppression of women in the time during which the story was written. The first line of Chopin’s short story describes the fragility of the main character, Louise Mallard, and her ambiguous heart trouble (Chopin 176). The author writes, “great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (176). By beginning the story this way, Chopin shows that Louise Mallard cannot be left responsible for her own emotions towards a massive event in her life. Rather, her feelings must be managed and controlled by those around her.
Then, she is a governess in Thornfield Hall, she experiences the pains of love. These emotions are really painful, especially as an inexperienced young girl has to face such difficulties. Usually, men are stronger than women, but such problems as losing both parents, starving and not having our beloved ones would probably indispose an emotionally strong man as too. Women can feel the same just as men, the difference between them is that men do not really show or speak about their problems and fears. Women usually do.
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall For my final project I chose to do a prose mash-up essay on The Jilting of Granny Weatherall. The Jilting of Granny is a short story written by Katherine Anne Porter in the 1930’s. The story is about Grandmother who is very ill lying in her bed sick with her daughter, Dr. Harry and grandchildren with her at her bedside She doesn’t not realize the serious of her illness and feels that everyone is just invading her privacy. Early in the Granny Weatherall wondered why her daughter chose to go in the hallway and whisper about her health to the doctor. During her illness Granny Weatherall also sat and thought how much of an embarrassment it would be for anyone to find the letters she had written to both her ex lovers George and John.
Gail Godwin's short story, “A Sorrowful Woman” is centered on a wife and mother in the early 1900’s who gets engulfed by her duties as a housewife and mother. Slowly, over time the wife starts to become more and more sorrowful. These points become apparent throughout the story. As much she would like to be with her family, her state of mind and her body would not allow her, however she was a sickly wife and a mother who becomes overwhelmed with her husband and child, and gradually shuts them out completely. The year portrayed in this story is almost a century ago and in this time period, women were not treated the same as men.
A common worldwide value that Harwood rejects as the normality in life with her poems. Harwood battles against the traditions that she believes support this downgrading by continually returning to the issue. In “Home of Mercy” there is a line in the poem. Here I believe she is talking about the Magdalene Asylums. It was a place of slave labor laundries from the 18th to the late-20th centuries to house "fallen women", a term used to imply female sexual promiscuity.